Friday, June 09, 2006

Hoping for a diamond

I've just got back from a short vacation around this beautiful country. Drove around 2500 miles across the east and north eastern parts of the country.During my travel, I visited the Smithsonian Institute in DC where amongst the fine items on display, was the Hope Diamond.

Now the "Hope Diamond" has a bloody history associated with it.

It was originally mined in India in the Golconda region. Legend has it that the French traveller Jean-Baptiste Tavernier stole it from a Hindu idol of Sita. The Hope diamond made the eye of Sita and the priests on knowing it was stolen placed a curse on whoever owned the diamond.

Tavernier later sold the diamond to King Louis XIV of France. The diamond was passed down the line to King Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette who were beheaded during the French Revolution. The crown jewels were stolen thereafter and whoever owned the diamond had misfortune fall upon them.

The diamond has been blamed for the murder and death of quite of a few of its future owners. The Russian prince Kanitowski, who supposedly lent it to French actress Lorens Ladue, who he later shot, and was later himself killed by revolutionaries. It was also blamed for the forced abdication of the Turkish Sultan Abdul Hamdi and the bankruptcy of others.

So considering the history of the diamond's past, it's quite interesting to note that the diamond is right at the heart of the most powerful nation in the world. It will be left to be seen if the curse of the diamond is a legend or not :)